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Displaced Iraqis are forced to flee their homes as fighters from the Islamic State consolidate their gains in Ramadi.(Photo: Ahmed Jalil, EPA)
Islamic State militants seized another town in western Iraq's Anbar province, days after capturing the provincial capital of Ramadi, a tribal leader told the Associated Press on Friday.
Meanwhile, in neighboring Syria, activists said Friday that the militants have killed dozens of pro-government forces since taking full control of the ancient town of Palmyra earlier this week and seizing more than half the nation.
Iraqi Sheikh Rafie al-Fahdawi said the small town of Husseiba, which is about four miles east of Ramadi, fell overnight. Police and tribal fighters withdrew after running out of ammunition, he told the Associated Press in a phone interview Friday.
"We have not received any assistance from the government. Our men fought to the last bullet and several of them were killed," he said.
The Islamic State has edged closer to the strategic government-held Habbaniyah military base, he added. "The situation is very critical," he said. "The militants are about 5 kilometers (3 miles) from Habbaniyah base, which is now in great danger."
USA TODAY
Activists: Islamic State seizes more than half of Syria
Iraqi security forces will likely begin a counterattack on Ramadi in days or weeks rather than months, a senior coalition commander in Iraq told USA TODAY on Friday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.
The White House has described the fall of Ramadi as a "setback," but said it is not a strategic disaster that would alter the strategy in Iraq.
There are between 2,000 and 3,000 Iraqi army forces near the city. Several thousand Shiite militia forces are also streaming into the region and will be part of the operation to retake Ramadi.
The coalition also reported that Iraqi security forces have made progress in battling Islamic State militants around the Baiji oil refinery, about 130 miles north of Baghdad, according to a statement Friday.
In Syria, Bebars al-Talawy, an activist in the central province of Homs, and an opposition Facebook page said as many as 280 soldiers and pro-government forces have been killed in Palmyra since it was captured, the AP reported.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it has been told that the militants have executed at least 17 people and taken control of the nearby ancient ruins, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The Islamic State has also seized al-Tanf, also known as al-Waleed, the last border crossing between Syria and Iraq that was controlled by the Syrian government, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Thursday.
USA TODAY
U.S. says Iraqi military regrouping to retake Ramadi
The United Nations said it received reports that Syrian forces prevented civilians from leaving the town, according to the BBC. Ravina Shamdasani, a spokeswoman for the U.N. in Geneva, told the broadcaster about a third of the town's population of 200,000 is believed to have fled. Many civilians could not leave until Wednesday and Thursday, after government forces had left, she said.
The news comes after Syrian state television said late Wednesday that pro-government forces had withdrawn from Palmyra after evacuating most civilians there, Reuters reported.
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